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Doppelganger

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Right, it’s Spot the Difference competition time again…

I must have one of those faces because for as long as I can remember I’ve constantly heard the phrase “You know who you look like?” Unfortunately the answer is rarely complimentary and over the years has been as diverse as Eric Cantona and David Schwimmer in my teens to Gru and Dara O’Briain in my thirties. Although it has to be said that my most common one that’s been brought up in my teaching career to date has been Mr Incredible with the proviso of “when he’s older though” which I think is not really a compliment.

I did once see my doppelganger on a trip to Arbroath of all places at the wee indoor fun fair by the beach where a group of us turned to see someone who looked like the double of me just a few years older – it actually made me a wee bit nervous because it did look just like me and for those who have met me the thought of two of us walking the earth is pretty much as deadly as crossing the streams in Ghostbusters.

Because of the constant references to my looking like Gru and many others I used the old app from the days of Bebo to check who, according to My Heritage I actually look like and the results are nothing short of hilarious. My top 3 hits according to the app are David Lynch, Patrick Dempsey and Stan Laurel. Now I’m not for a moment questioning the app’s accuracy but considering those three don’t even look like each other what is the chance of any of them looking even slightly like me?

Here’s the proof:

Why does Patrick Dempsey look like he should be Paul Hollywood’s stunt double for the “Great British Bake Off”?

More to the point why do we do this as a species? Why are we driven to compare who we look like to others – especially famous faces? I’m sure cats aren’t meeting up saying to each other “I’m telling you he looks just like that Ginger Tom off Corrie!” It is said that there are around six people in the world that closely resemble each of us (God help McCrirrick’s doubles!) but does it matter when we are a species that seems to try to make ourselves as individual as we can be only to be compared to others. We compare personalities – especially with our parents when we start becoming them – or that we dress or behave like someone else. We are chameleons after all and will spend most of our life borrowing and mimicking our favourite people both real and fictional.

I know that if I’ve watched too much “Friends” I’ll become Chandler or if House has been on my sarcasm levels increase, but the look-a-like thing is weird. I’ve kinda got the hair of Dara O’Brian, the lazy eye that in a dim light is the same as David Tennant, the nose of Havier Bardem if he had been in a fight with a door post and the mouth and chin of Chris Moyles before he lost the weight. Or as I’m better known – JD. Or Gru. Why is it when you go to the cinema you think you look like the fella in the Man of Steel poster only to notice people laughing that you’re standing beside the minions from Despicable Me?